This popular citrus can live in your home. How to grow lemon from seed at home? This evergreen perennial - a guest from the subtropics, will not grow in the open ground in most regions of our country. But at home, in the apartment she feels quite comfortable. But caring for a lemon growing at home is different from growing in open field. Consider how to care for lemon at home, so that the plant decorates your home and delight the crop. The fruits of homemade lemon have a thinner crust and intense aroma than those that were grown in the open ground.
Lemon's homeland is Southeast Asia, more than a thousand years ago these fruits were imported from India, and eventually found popularity in Africa and America.
This citrus tree gives color several times a year. To grow lemon from seed, you need to create comfortable conditions for it: high-quality ventilation, lighting, periodic fertilizing, individual approach according to the season.
One of the main stages is the selection of quality seeds - this is the key to a future crop. For planting material, seeds from bought ripe lemons are quite suitable. Sow many seeds at once so that later you can choose the strongest sprouts.
How to plant lemon from seed?
Phased process:
- Remove seeds from ripe citrus fruits. Select the largest seeds. Most often, seeds are sown immediately, but some gardeners recommend pre-treating them with a solution of sodium humate. The solution is diluted with water according to the attached instructions, the seeds are immersed for 24 hours.
- Drainage (small pebbles, charcoal or expanded clay) is preliminarily poured at the bottom of pots or special containers, and soil is poured on top. Soil for indoor lemonand should consist of equal parts of peat, land for flowers. You can buy a ready-made soil mixture for citrus plants. Lemons feel great in black soil mixed with leaf humus (1: 1), you can add sand there.
- The bones are deepened by about 1 cm, the distance between them should be at least 5 cm, and from the sides of the tank - at least 3.
- To maintain the necessary temperature conditions at home, the soil should always be moistened, but not oversaturated with water. The ideal temperature for seedlings is + 18..23ºC.
- After about 10-14 days, the first seedlings from the seed appear. From the very beginning, stronger specimens are visible, it is they who are selected for further growth.
- For room lemon to begin to grow, to show the world the first full leaves, it is necessary to create an appropriate microclimate for it. To do this, sprouted sprouts are covered with glass jars, and then put in a well-lit place, however, direct sunlight should be avoided.
- Airing should be daily. Banks are removed from sprouts for 15-20 minutes.
- When full leaflets (two or three pieces) appear, it is time to transplant the room lemon into separate containers. A pot for a sprout with a diameter should be no more than 10 cm. Drainage at the bottom of the pot with a nutritious soil mixture is a prerequisite.
Here, the young seedling from the seed should grow to about 17-20 cm, after which it is transplanted. The volume of the new pot should be larger than the previous one.
Indoor lemon, home care
This tree loves bright, but diffused light, so that in summer the scorching sun's rays do not harm the leaves, it must be shaded. Here, as when watering, you need to adhere to the middle ground, since with a lack of light, the fruits will be acidic, and the foliage sluggish and rare.
The optimum temperature regime for flowering, fruit formation (strings) is approximately + 17..20 ° C.
Room lemon does not like being moved from place to place, but staying in the open air (for example, on the balcony) still does not hinder him. Keep an eye on the weather forecast, as a sharp temperature drop can harm the plant (it will drop the foliage). Wintering should take place in cool home conditions, a temperature of + 15..18 ° C will be enough.
How to care for lemon in terms of watering? Like all citrus crops, he loves moisture. In summer, it is necessary to provide perennial abundant watering, twice a week is enough. In winter, one watering per week is enough. Overflows should be avoided. In this case, the water should be boiled or well-settled, have room temperature. This plant does not tolerate chlorine, which is rich in tap water - consider this factor.
Citrus fruits require frequent irrigation of the crown with moisture. This is especially true in the summer, and in the winter (with constantly running batteries or heaters) spraying becomes simply necessary. Sometimes it is possible to arrange a warm shower for the plant - this is a good prevention from the appearance of a tick, scab. To further increase humidity, a lemon pot can be installed on a tray with wet expanded clay (or charcoal, gravel).
Fertilizer for indoor lemon is a prerequisite for harmonious development and fruiting. Compared with other domestic perennials, this citrus needs to be fed more often than its green counterparts. In summer, fertilizers are administered weekly (with water for irrigation), in winter - once a month will be enough.
Mineral fertilizing is more effective. But organic ones contain all the important trace elements, have a beneficial effect on the structure of the soil, and activate the vital activity of the necessary microorganisms. If you combine minerals with organics, then such a union will provide the best nutrition for this citrus at home.
During the activation of shoot growth (in spring), it is appropriate to introduce potassium, nitrogen fertilizing, and when flowers appear - phosphorus. Carefully read the information on the package with fertilizers - observing the dosage is very important, since you will subsequently use these lemons. With the onset of the so-called "rest period" (autumn-winter time), the dose and frequency of top dressing decreases to once per month.
Transplanting a lemon into a new pot, pruning, forming a crown
Every year, preferably in the spring (the beginning of the growing season), a lemon transplant is performed. Transplantation should be carried out carefully so that the root system of the perennial is not disturbed. The transfer method is most preferable for this case. Only young specimens are transplanted annually when they reach 3 years of age (individual varieties - 5 years). The transplant is done every 2 or 3 years. It is highly not recommended to carry out this process during flowering or fruiting - the plant can lose inflorescences with fruits.
Do not forget that high-quality drainage at the bottom of the tank is a prerequisite for citrus crops. The size of the pot is also important, because if the capacity is too small, then the plant will not have enough land or nutrients. Too big a pot will not work either - the soil will turn sour and the root system will rot.
Lemon Pot - Size (Diameter):
- small bushes up to 2 years old - about 20 cm;
- plants 3-4 years old - 30 cm;
- young trees 5-6 years old - 35 cm;
- citrus over 7 years old - 45 cm.
It is desirable that the pot was made of clay. However, wood, glass, plastic are also permissible, the main thing is that the tank has drainage holes.
It is better to give the crown a shape, remove excess branches in the spring (April), until the active growth of shoots has begun. When the crown is first formed, the trunk of the bush is cut to a length of 25-30 cm.
The strongest buds remain on the sides (these are first-order shoots), from which skeletal branches will grow afterwards. Usually there are three or four pieces, make sure that they are evenly spaced, as the future crown will depend on this. Each subsequent shoot order needs to be nipped 5 cm shorter than the previous one.
In most citrus fruits, the ovary is observed on branches of the 4th and 5th order. These branches grow in the second or third year of life.
On the branches of the first order, the fruits are not tied at all. And on branches of the 2nd and 3rd order - only in individual varieties (for example, Meyer).
The number of flowers also needs to be controlled so that the vitality of the plant is not depleted. In order for the tree to develop harmoniously, at about 3 years of age, you need to start removing half of the inflorescences (the crop will be smaller, but the fruits are larger), and leave 3 or 4 pieces from the ovaries. For the same purposes, after a year you can leave 5 or 6 citruses. And for the future do not leave more than 7 or 9.
Growing branches can be trimmed carefully, without undue enthusiasm, by eye, so that the crown visually has an attractive shape. It should be borne in mind that short circumcision provokes the growth of new powerful shoots, and long promotes the nucleation of fruit buds.
The skeleton of a tree is considered formed after the young shoots of branches grow, lignify. A properly formed crown gives all leaves the required amount of light and air.
How to pinch a lemon? If it actively branches, forms shoots, then excess fragments must be removed immediately as soon as they appear. In those shoots that are left for development, the tops are pinched after the appearance of the 6th leaf.
Indoor Lemon Diseases
Often, diseases appear due to non-observance of the rules of care: underfilling leads to the drying of the tree, with a supersaturation with moisture, the root system rots, and the leaves turn yellow.
If the foliage is covered with yellow spots, and then turns pale and dries, then the lemon is most likely lacking in iron.
If the tips of the leaves dry, and they themselves seem to rust, this indicates a lack of phosphorus.
A lack of potassium leads to wrinkling of the leaves, and with a deficiency of manganese, the ovaries generally disappear.
Competent, timely fertilizer of the plant is an ideal prevention of the above negative manifestations.
Little to know how to grow a lemon. You need to know how to protect it in a timely manner. Weakened plants are the first to fall into the risk zone, it is they who are exposed to diseases most often. Proper care is the basis for keeping lemon at home. If the tree is sick, then the affected leaves, flowers, fruits, branches should be removed immediately. If a pest is found, then you need to immediately carry out a protective "attack", but after certain types of processing, the lemon can no longer be eaten.
Quite good results are shown by the Fitosporin preparation. It suppresses a wide range of citrus pathogens. It is also good because it is odorless, does not contain toxic compounds. It is diluted with water when watering, plants are irrigated. This drug is very good for the prevention of diseases.
Communicating with friends of interest, you can often hear complaints: "indoor lemon dropped leaves, what should I do?" The main causes of this reaction are insufficient lighting, overfilling or underfilling, depleted soil, excessive air dryness, heat or extreme cold. For reference, we list the most common diseases of home citrus, give a brief recommendation to address the cause:
- Scab or warty - has a fungal origin, manifests itself on young shoots and leaves: first there are pale yellow spots, which subsequently become warts of a grayish color. Growths grow, cover shoots, which subsequently die. The scab also affects the fruit: bright yellow spots appear on them, which then turn red and darken. All affected parts of the plant need to be cut and destroyed, and the trunk with the crown should be abundantly treated with 1% Bordeaux fluid (a mixture of copper sulfate and lime milk solution).
- Anthracnose is the most common fungal reason why indoor lemon leaves turn yellow at home. With this disease, the tree loses buds, brown spots appear on the fruits, branches die off. All affected shoots, fruits must be removed, and the plant itself should be treated with the “Fitosporin” preparation described above or Bordeaux liquid.
- Sooty fungus is a consequence of the defeat by a pest - a mealybug or scale insect. Active preventive measures are a sure way to protect a tree from such consequences.
- Hommosis - is manifested by the appearance of dark red spots on the trunk and branches, at the lesion sites the bark crackes, a sticky liquid (gum) is released from the crack, which subsequently hardens. The causes of this disease are many: excessive deepening of seedlings, “dirty” soil, mechanical “injuries” of the plant, improper care for indoor lemon. Treatment - finding out the root cause of the disease, as well as radical excision of the affected areas with a sharp knife. Damage should be treated with a 3% solution of copper sulfate, and then covered with garden var.
This citrus perennial should be regularly inspected to notice the disease at its very beginning. As you know, any disease is easier to cure at the initial stage. You need to examine not only the trunk or foliage, but also the root system of the tree, the soil.
Lemon in the apartment - benefit or harm
Of course, the benefits of it are much greater than the possible harm. Everyone knows the healing, protective for the human body properties of this citrus. Vitamins, flavonoids, biologically active substances successfully suppress viruses, create a powerful shield against pathogenic bacteria.
The use of this yellow citrus strengthens the immune system, normalizes hormonal levels, improves vision, stimulates the digestive tract. Lemon mobilizes the internal resources of the body, helps with sore throats, colds. It is widely used in cosmetology: face masks (whitening, healing, cleansing) and hair (growth stimulator). Even just a green tree (room lemon from a stone grown at home) saturates the air with volatile products, raises the mood, makes breathing easier.
Contraindication to use can be individual intolerance, peptic ulcer of the stomach, duodenum, chronic gastritis, pancreatitis. In everything you need to know the measure, since eating lemon in large quantities will not lead to anything good.
Given all of the above, now you know how to grow lemon from a stone at home. Despite the abundance of information, this process does not require special knowledge or skills. It is necessary to understand and take into account the main criteria - the rules of maintenance and care, competent pruning, timely prevention of diseases.